Advanced glycation end-products (AGEs) seem to be important in aging, their buildup effectively a form of damage that harms cellular processes in a number of ways. Here, researchers suggest that an AGE precursor chemical is also problematic: "Oxidative stress is believed to be a very important factor in causing aging and age-related diseases. Oxidative stress is caused by an imbalance between oxidants such as reactive oxygen species (ROS) and antioxidants. ROS are produced from the mitochondrial electron transport chain and many oxidative reactions. Methylglyoxal (MG) is a highly reactive dicarbonyl metabolite formed during glucose, protein and fatty acid metabolism. MG levels are elevated in hyperglycemia and other conditions. An excess of MG formation can increase ROS production and cause oxidative stress. MG reacts with proteins, DNA and other biomolecules, and is a major precursor of advanced glycation end products (AGEs). AGEs are also associated with the aging process and age-related diseases such as cardiovascular complications of diabetes, neurodegenerative diseases and connective tissue disorders. AGEs also increase oxidative stress. In this review we discuss the potential role of MG in the aging process through increasing oxidative stress besides causing AGEs formation. Specific and effective scavengers and crosslink breakers of MG and AGEs are being developed and can become potential treatments to slow the aging process and prevent many diseases."

View the Article Under Discussion: http://pmid.us/20393592

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This release via ScienceDaily summarizes the goals of present day calorie restriction research: "Organisms from yeast to rodents to humans all benefit from cutting calories. In less complex organisms, restricting calories can double or even triple lifespan. It's not yet clear just how much longer calorie restriction might help humans live, but those who practice the strict diet hope to survive past 100 years old. ... calorie restriction influences the same handful of molecular pathways related to aging in all the animals that have been studied. Aware of the profound influence of calorie restriction on animals, some people have cut their calorie intake by 25 percent or more in hopes of lengthening lifespan. [Researcher Luigi Fontana] is less interested in calorie restriction for longer life than in its ability to promote good health throughout life. ... Right now, the average lifespan in Western countries is about 80, but there are too many people who are only healthy until about age 50. We want to use the discoveries about calorie restriction and other related genetic or pharmacological interventions to close that 30-year gap between lifespan and 'healthspan.' However, by extending healthy lifespan, average lifespan also could increase up to 100 years of age."

View the Article Under Discussion: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/04/100415141123.htm

Read More Longevity Meme Commentary: http://www.longevitymeme.org/news/

Green Tea Expands its Health Promoting Repertoire

German researchers find improved fat oxidation when men combine EGCG with caffeine.

From improving arthritis symptoms to preventing heart disease, heightening eye health to discouraging Alzheimer’s disease development, green tea is the libation of choice for health aficionados.  Yet as multifaceted a drink green tea is, could encouraging weight loss be added to its repertoire?  German researchers sure think so.

A team of researchers from Berlin’s University Medicine recruited 10 middle-aged men who, besides being obese, were generally healthy.  They broke the 10 men into groups of two and randomly assigned them to take an allotted amount of EGCG, some in high doses, others in low doses.  EGCG is the antioxidant compound in green tea believed to make it such a nutritional powerhouse.

One of the cooler aspects of this study is that all the men got a turn in taking a specific amount of EGCG.  In other words, instead of taking a specific amount of EGCG for the length of the study period, the men would take 300 mg of EGCG for three days, then go off for seven days, then pick up their EGCG regimen for another three days.  But instead of taking the same amount as last time, they’d take 600 milligrams.  Then go on to another group 10 days later.  So by the end of the study, all 10 men had gone through the five regimens.

(To be honest, I wish more studies were set up like this.  It makes the results of the study more reliable.)

By the end of the study, the researchers found increases in fat oxidation across the spectrum.  Compared to the time in which they took a placebo for three days, fat oxidation increased 33 percent (300 mg of EGCG daily), 20 percent (600 mg of EGCG daily), 34.5 percent (200 mg of caffeine), and 49 percent (200 mg of caffeine combined with 300 mg of EGCG).

What’s interesting is that there was greater fat oxidation when the men took the lower EGCG combination as compared to the high EGCG combination.  So apparently the Goldilocks rule applies to EGCG—not too much, not too little, but an amount that’s “just right” works for weight loss.

The question, of course, is how many drinks of green tea must one guzzle in order to see any significant weight loss?

Researchers say it may be as few as three drinks or as many as 10 drinks…per day!  Now, as much as I like to drink tea, I don’t have the time, nor the inclination to drink that amount of green tea every day!

But that as it may, the very fact that I could lose weight by drinking that amount of green tea every day illustrates just how amazing a drink green tea is.

The study is published in the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

Sources:
nutraingredients.com

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Study:  Underage Drinking Increases Benign Breast Disease, Breast Cancer Risk

Teenage girls that drink alcohol are about five times more likely to develop what's often a precursor to breast cancer.

When we go to get something checked and the results come back benign, that’s usually a positive prognosis.  But if you get a benign prognosis and you’re a teenaged girl that drinks alcohol, a “benign” prognosis may be a bad prognosis.

According to a recent study conducted by researchers from the Washington University School of Medicine, young women who drink an average of 6.5 alcoholic beverages a week are five and a half times more likely to develop a condition called benign breast disease.  Benign breast disease, or fibrocystic breast disease, is similar to breast cancer in that it’s characterized by breast pain, discomfort, nipple discharge and lump formation, but unlike breast cancer, the lumps that form are usually non-life threatening.

At least, until now.  Because according to the study’s lead researcher, Graham Colditz, benign breast disease is a warning sign for eventual breast cancer development.

Colditz and his colleagues discovered this after looking into the health surveys of over 9,000 “tweens” and teenagers between the ages of nine and 15 years old.  Parts of the survey asked how often the girls drank alcohol and whether or not they’d been diagnosed with benign breast disease.

Reporting in the May issue of the journal Pediatrics, the St. Louis-based researchers found a relationship between benign breast disease diagnosis and the amount the girls drank.  The more they drank, the more likely they were to be diagnosed with benign breast disease.

Besides alcohol, other risk factors for fibrocystic breast disease include a high fat diet, excessive consumption of caffeine and whether there’s a family history of the disease.

Now, before you cast off this study by saying, “I know my daughter and there’s no way she drinks alcohol,” permit me to tell you a short story that a friend of mine recently told me.  A true story.

A friend of mine lives in New Hampshire and works as a substitute teacher at a local junior high school.  As a substitute teacher, it comes as no surprise that the kids are pretty unruly when he’s leading the classroom, as the word “substitute” has long been loosely translated by students to meaning, “Hey, the regular teacher is gone, so I can get away with more!!”

But what did come as a surprise was the recent arrest of an eighth grade girl due to underage drinking. Apparently, throughout the school year, she had been sneaking alcohol into the school by combining beer and soda pop, sipping her beverage throughout the day like it was nothing out of the ordinary.  The smell of beer on her breath finally did her in.

Moral of the story:  Don’t automatically assume your son or daughter isn’t drinking.  Because the father of this girl was stunned, even though 11 percent of underage drinkers take their first drink in the eighth grade.

For the sake of your kids’ short and long term health, remind them about the dangers of alcohol consumption—even if you’ve had the conversation dozens of times.  Remain ever vigilant of what they’re doing and with whom.

It’s a matter of life and death.

Sources:
sciencedaily.com
pubs.niaaa.nih.gov
health.google.com

Discuss this post in Frank Mangano’s forum!

A general interest article on transhumanist visions of the future and immortality in the sense of the continued repair and reversal of aging through medical technology: “Immortality could be sneaking up faster than we can believe. Barely a month goes by without some new advance in organ replacement, and a recent operation to replace a boy’s windpipe with one generated from his own stem cells was called ‘embarrassingly simple’ by the specialist in charge. Further breakthroughs could be made by the SENS Foundation, led by the radical immortalist Aubrey de Grey, with a brutally simple plan to give humans an unbeatable protection against cancer. This involves limiting human cells’ ability to divide at cancerous levels, with regular top-ups from externally grown cells replacing worn-out tissue. If these technologies can hold to their promise, biological immortality, perhaps the most cherished goal of the transhumanists, may be with us in a few decades. A loose grouping of scientists, philosophers and sympathisers, with organisations such as the Oxford Future of Humanity Institute and Humanity+, transhumanists urge human progress through radical technological enhancement. With regards to immortality, I’m certainly a sympathiser: if a dictator was murdering tens of millions of people right across the world, we’d gladly do anything to overthrow him. And yet ageing, as eloquently put by the transhumanist philosopher Nick Bostrom, is a tyrant that kills us by the cartload – and what do we do to stop it?”

View the Article Under Discussion: http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/apr/15/transhumanism-biological-immortality

Read More Longevity Meme Commentary: http://www.longevitymeme.org/news/

It will be possible to replace the functions of some organs with machines in the near future, this advance accomplished on much the same timescale as the creation of tissue engineered replacement organs: “An artificial pancreas system that closely mimics the body’s blood sugar control mechanism was able to maintain near-normal glucose levels without causing hypoglycemia in a small group of patients. The system, combining a blood glucose monitor and insulin pump technology with software that directs administration of insulin and the blood-sugar-raising hormone glucagon, was developed at Boston University (BU). The first clinical trial of the system was conducted at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) and confirmed the feasibility of an approach utilizing doses of both hormones … Large doses of glucagon are used as a rescue drug for people with severely low blood sugar. Our system is designed to counteract moderate drops in blood sugar with minute doses of glucagon spread out throughout the day, just as the body does in people without diabetes.” The future for this sort of technology is one of miniaturization, falling cost, and the possibility of incorporation into the body as an implanted device.

View the Article Under Discussion: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2010-04/mgh-nap041210.php

Read More Longevity Meme Commentary: http://www.longevitymeme.org/news/